The History And Legend Of Noble Rot

So, What is this stuff called ‘Noble Rot’? Rot is something we never associate with positive effects. We wouldn’t unplug our fridges to introduce it to 99.9% of our food under the impression that it would somehow make our food taste better (so please don’t!). However, fungi with positive effects have been found – perhaps by chance – to improve the taste of food when controlled by a skilled producer. The grey fungus Botrytis Cinerea can either be a blessing or a curse to a crop. When grapes sit in the vineyard a while after they should ideally be picked, moist weather will often cause Botrytis Cinerea infection. ‘Grey rot’ is the classic result of leaving infection to take its course in continued wet weather. But noble rot occurs when the grapes are subsequently exposed to dry weather conditions after infection.

Such vineyard management is difficult, low yield and highly skilled. The Coteaux du Layon is a prime example, a Chenin Blanc Wine from the Loire Valley, France. Noble rot wines like the Coteaux du Layon are typically full of sweet, concentrated tastes. We associate Botrytisation as something that is typically produced in more prestigious ‘old world’ vineyards, like those of France and Italy. It is however, practised around the world. In Europe, nations like Austria make Ausbruch by Botrytising Pinot Blanc, a mutant of  Pinot Noir Wine grapes.

The history of this most noble of rots is ‘shrouded in mystery’ (history is rarely shrouded in anything else, it would seem). Various wine growing regions lay claim to the discovery, each having a legend of origin for the practice. Predictably though, not one of these stories is verifiable, and all are actually not the earliest references to the practice (dated back to at least the 15th Century). Hungary’s legend is one of the earliest claims, claiming the invention of the noble rot method in 1630. The Rheingau region of Germany has a folk story, claiming that noble rot was first practised in the production of Riesling wine. The folk story tells us that in 1775, a messenger was charged with communicating the Bishop of Fulda’s harvest order. This man was robbed on the way to communicate said order, and the communication therefore never took place. With much of the year’s crop discarded, the local peasantry attempt to make their own blend, discovering that they’d managed to make something even better somehow. Though the dates aren’t likely, it is significant that Riesling is involved: it is after all, one of grapes most commonly subjected to Noble rot.